Imran Satia, MD, MRCP (UK), PhD
McMaster University; Hamilton, ON
Session Description
Chronic cough (CC), defined as cough lasting greater 8 weeks, affects approximately 10% of adults. Cough is also the leading cause for ambulatory and primary care visits to physicians and one of the most common reasons for referral to secondary care. Chronic coughing leads to distressing physical, psychological and social consequences such as urinary incontinence, exhaustion, sleep disturbances, fatigue, anxiety, frustration, embarrassment, and social isolation. Patients presenting with CC are often investigated and treated for asthma, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, gastro-esophageal reflux disease and upper airways cough syndromes. However, in many patients, coughing can be refractory to treatment (RCC), or no underlying disease can be identified, i.e., it is unexplained (UCC). Current treatments for RCC/UCC are all ‘off-label’ pain medications such as morphine, hydrocodone, pregabalin, gabapentin and amitriptyline, which are associated with significant side effects. This presentation will describe the current phase 2 and phase 3 development of novel pharmaceutical therapies targeting the peripheral and central nervous system including P2X3, TRPM8, Kappa/Mu, and NMDA.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
- Understand the peripheral and central mechanisms of chronic cough.
- Understand the clinical development programs of P2X3 antagonists gefapixant and camlipixant.
- Understand the potential role of antagonists targeting kappa/mu, TRPM8 and NMDA receptors.
CanMEDS Roles: Health Advocate, Medical Expert, Professional, Scholar
